E46 M3 - Carbon Black

[calypso]

Oki so decided to put some work in on the e46. Want to try out the CQuartz too so machining is in order.

Car is very dirty, looks like its been wool mopped before and wears a generic glaze. Ive had it for 3 weeks now.






Wheels are pretty bad, but they just getting a quick wash now, need a proper wheels off clean, they arches need work too, but thats for another time.


Nice holograms through the dirt


Foam foamed with strong CWG + APC mix , washed strong CWG mix, glaze and LSP is off.





After this was the IronX, cant say I noticed much of a difference, as this car was pretty free of contaminants. And being black you cant see the IronX working. The floor was purple though.
Clay also was uneventful. pretty clean overall. Just some muck on the lower panels I presume where the wool mop could not reach.

Next is trim off, clean underneath and tape up



General swirl RIDS ect











Stone chips anyone?


Any my favourite, the shallow angle high light, high gloss pic.
No correction here, just wash and clay. So dont believe everything you see.


Sorry I didnt use tape, was abit pressed for time, and using teh camera already slows you down, but this is 1 pass FF on a LCC CCS white polishing pad.




Better but certainly not perfect. The FA is glossing well but just not enough oomph to get the medium RIDS, let alone heavy.

SIP on orange light cutting

More passes, not getting any better


Here is Powergloss, with a drop FF on a yellow cutting pad, multiple passes, followed by FF on a white polishing pad.




This camera is worth every cent, its making the paint look better then what is is. There are still some defects left that are just not coming out.
The LCC CCS compounding pads are starting to clock and crumble. So looks like that might be holding me back.
Flex 3401 is supposed to be king of the once step correction, but it looks like on dice today, gonna have to do multiple passes and steps to get this right. And I'm still coughing up compounding dust, its bloody everywhere.

Final shots
You can see with the flash some minor detail is till present.

In florescent, not so visible


I dont think Im going to get this paint to the point where I will be happy to CQuartz it this weekend, but we will have to see how far I get.
Gonna try purple foamed wool followed by SIP on a white polishing pad to see if I get get a better combo.

Anyways enough faffing, back to work.

[Sankekur]

Fantastic work there so far Calypso!

Any pics of the exhaust after some proper cleaning? It looks really bad in the before pics.

Can't wait for some more pics!

[SilverSabre]

So. very. jealous.

Gorgeous car, and very well done on the detail!

[PrevanP]

Awesome work Calypso

[calypso]

Oki abit more experimenting today. This paint is a big pain in the ass. After chatting abit to thee guys thought I would change the approach abit.

Boot pre correction.



One pass PG on purple foamed wool

Abit better, but not good.

Two passes wool


And a pass of SIP on white polishing

About half the marks you see here are polish smears and the rest are defects. Trying not to wipe too hard because as hard as it is to remove defects, paint still scratches with the softest MF went removing oil with IPA.
Its not perfect but thats as good as its gonna get for now. Im to my ears in compounding dust and just over it.

Other then that just took a few more pics.

FF being worked in

[Woodie]

Nice progress being made Lexi. The foamed wool definitely seems to be doing the trick.

BTW - nobody said detailing was easy. You've just forgotten how much work it is with you not being able to detail during the last 10 years of drought down your way .

[Carn]

Nice work Lexi

Interesting to see how similar colours from different batches can be vastly different in terms of hardness. I wonder if the age of the paint has anything to do with the hardness at all

[calypso]

Yeah its all rather frustrating. Even did some wetsanding on for RIDS's little results, but at least it did show me that the wool was working.
This paint just fights every step of the way.

Oh and did I say that I hate dogs?

[STaX]

Haha....pricey dog treat!

Looks like you really had a hard time finding the right combo but it looks like a huge improvement. I take it this is a replacement for the E36? Nice choice.....now put a supercharger

[Wells]

Looking good Lexi, feels good to be able to use a hose again hey, I am keen to get my hands on a car again and remind myself how to make it shine!

You collecting all the m3 through the eras, or replacing E36?

[Sankekur]

I think the paint might be that hard from standing in the sun almost its entire life. If you have a look at the area where the wiper originate from that plastic has that sun damaged look, my E46 is a 2000 model and has been standing allot in the sun the past 4 years and the plastic does not look nearly as bad but the paint is also quite tough. So I can just imagine how hard the paint will be after 7 years in the sun.

[STaX]

Isn't BMW paint tough anyway?

[Sankekur]

(23-08-2011 10:55 AM)STaX Wrote:  Isn't BMW paint tough anyway?

I think so but the 1999 E46 we have had since new is allot softer than the 2000 and the 1999 have pretty much always been out of direct sunlight, either in a garage or in a car port. The E34's paint is very soft though but then again it doesn't have any clear coat.

[Jughead]

Awesome work on a cool ride calypso

[calypso]

(23-08-2011 10:34 AM)Sankekur Wrote:  I think the paint might be that hard from standing in the sun almost its entire life. If you have a look at the area where the wiper originate from that plastic has that sun damaged look, my E46 is a 2000 model and has been standing allot in the sun the past 4 years and the plastic does not look nearly as bad but the paint is also quite tough. So I can just imagine how hard the paint will be after 7 years in the sun.

UV exposure I dont think is the issue here. It only did 8000km's a year and was a spare weekend car. Has lived most of it life in the garage. Dunno whats up with the plastic, just has compounding dust on it.

BMW paint is generally rather hard, but this is just odd. I can scratch it with a MF, though RIDS are hard to remove.

[Sankekur]

Hell then I'm as stumped as you and I'm quite new to the detailing thing. Hope you sort out a combination that works 100% soon, would love to see what the Carbon-Black looks like outside in the sunlight once you are finished

[kripstoe]

Dear calypso,

Hate you.

Kind regards,
kripstoe

[SilverSabre]

(23-08-2011 03:17 PM)kripstoe Wrote:  Dear calypso,

Hate you.

Kind regards,
kripstoe

+1

[calypso]

(23-08-2011 09:31 AM)STaX Wrote:  Haha....pricey dog treat!

Looks like you really had a hard time finding the right combo but it looks like a huge improvement. I take it this is a replacement for the E36? Nice choice.....now put a supercharger

Lol it would be cool but I dont see alot of value in mods like that. I normally build cars to be pretty bullet proof with lots of suspension work and tweaks but with little engine work to increase power. Just proactive maintenance stuff.
But if I were to go FI, it would be Horsepowerfreaks twin turbo

(23-08-2011 10:02 AM)Wells Wrote:  Looking good Lexi, feels good to be able to use a hose again hey, I am keen to get my hands on a car again and remind myself how to make it shine!

You collecting all the m3 through the eras, or replacing E36?

Lol still trying to get an e30, think its gonna be a while to find that . Im keeping the e36 for now, not having to use it as a daily means i can really get it tip top.

Really need get a bigger work trolly thing, even the Volksie is being used as a shelf.

[onyx]

Glad to see that baby finally getting some love!
Whats the condition of the interior?

Seems frustrating... but it'll be worth it in the end
Keep on going (try not to breath in too much dust)